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by Max Duke on

Last year, PBS Digital announced a new professional development opportunity for stations and their digital professionals aimed at improving local efforts across platforms. The Digital Immersion Project, which was developed with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, would be a unique opportunity that mixed in-depth training, hands-on workshops, and collaborative mentorship to improve overall expertise in digital strategies and tactics.

Thanks to continued support from CPB and a first round of station successes, PBS is excited to announce the Digital Immersion Project is returning for another year of intensive learning. This year, PBS and CPB will sponsor 50 station digital personnel to participate in one of three different immersive learning experiences, called Immersion Collectives.

Each of the three Immersion Collectives kicks-off with participants sponsored to attend an in-depth training event that includes a half-day workshop, meet-ups, and a specially-curated track of digital sessions. Following the event, Digital Immersion Partners will spend time learning in cohorts and being assigned mentors to achieve a project goal that is specific to their station.

The three Immersion Collectives are:

1. Collective One: Sponsored attendance to PBS TechCon 2018 as the immersive event, followed by 10 months working on a project one-on-one with a mentor. There is also an opportunity to visit the mentor’s station to shadow their operations. 15 spots are available.

2. Collective Two: Sponsored attendance to PBS TechCon 2018 as the immersive event, followed by 10 months working on a project with the support of a mentor and a collaborative cohort. 15 spots are available.

3. Collective Three: Sponsored attendance to one of two newly created Regional Workshops based on PBS TechCon, followed by six months working on a project using materials from an online virtual classroom and the support of a group mentor. 20 spots are available.

When applying for the Digital Immersion Project, each application will be reviewed and considered for each Immersion Collective. Over the course of the project, chosen applicants will gain not only knowledge, but also an enhanced understanding and collaborative connections that can be used to improve a station’s digital efforts across platforms.

If you or your station wants to benefit from participating in this unique experience, follow the link below to apply, or keep reading for more details.

This professional development program places a heavy focus on strategic and organizational tactics to further digital success at the local level, with the selected participants being able to draw on the project’s teachings and a national network of public media contacts. Through the project, we have seen stations have success in the following areas:

Use of data and metrics for organization-wide decision making

Convening of station-wide Digital Strategic Teams

Implementation of integrated Digital Strategies

Creation of Digital-first content with supporting distribution and funding strategies

KEY DIGITAL IMMERSION PROJECT CURRICULUM
Following the initial immersion training experience, participants will spend time learning in cohorts and being assigned mentors to achieve a uniquely set goal that is specific to their station.

Key concepts covered by the training curriculum include:

Digital-first Production

Distribution Platforms

Key Infrastructure Technologies

Audience Development

Organizational Structure and Culture

Multi-platform Strategy and Tactics

Digital Marketing

Data Analysis and Metrics

Upon completion, each participant will also have completed a Digital Measurement Model exercise that takes the project’s learnings and maps them to the station’s goals, complete with tactics and deliverables.

APPLICANT CRITERIA AND DETAILS
The primary requisite for applicants will be a responsibility for digital strategy or execution at a PBS Member Station, which can be either direct or part of a larger set of job duties. Recipients will be selected from a wide-range of skillsets and experience in public media.

Ideal applicants have demonstrated leadership in their field of expertise and a commitment to strengthening public media’s reach across platforms to communities around the country.

Since the project emphasizes ongoing learning, applicants should articulate how they would use this digital training to improve their station’s overall digital efforts. A letter of support from a supervisory or General Manager is also required for the application.

The Digital Immersion Project application deadline is February 18th, 2018.

Our goal for the Digital Immersion Project is to work with individuals from stations of all size and license types. Applications will be reviewed by a multi-discipline group of colleagues from PBS and the Digital Media Advisory Council (DMAC), a representative body of station leaders focused on advocating for station digital needs.

PBS Digital is excited to continue to offer this unique opportunity to stations and their digital professionals thanks to CPB’s support. We hope the talented professional across the system join us in further developing our industry's multi-platform capabilities.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to PBS Digital at dip@pbs.org.

DIGITAL IMMERSION PROJECT OPPORTUNITY SUMMARYWhat: Three immersive professional development opportunities developed by PBS Digital, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, that mixes in-depth training, hands-on workshops, and collaborative mentorship to improve overall expertise in digital strategies and tactics. Participants will attend an immersive learning event (either PBS TechCon 2018 or a Regional Workshop) for an in-person training experience, followed by 6-10 months working with each other and mentors to achieve a uniquely set goal that is specific to their station.